Texts in Conversation
Exodus shares Ugarit's expectation that widows and orphans must be protected, turning a duty demanded of kings into a rule backed by God's threat of punishment.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.16 VI:48
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . You have let your hand fall into mischief. You used to judge the cause of the widow, to adjudicate the case of the wretched, to drive out those who prey upon the poor, to feed before you the orphan, behind your back the widow. Since you have become a brother of the bed of sickness, a companion of the bed of suffering, descend from the kingship— I will be king; in your authority I will sit."—And [K]irta the Noble answers: "May Horon break, O my son, may Horon break your head, Athtart Name of Baal your skull. May you fall into . . . . . . . . . . .
Exodus 22:22
Hebrew Bible
22 “You must not afflict any widow or orphan. 23 If you afflict them in any way and they cry to me, I will surely hear their cry, 24 and my anger will burn and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will be widows and your children will be fatherless. 25 “If you lend money to any of my people who are needy among you, do not be like a moneylender to him; do not charge him interest. 26 If you do take the garment of your neighbor in pledge, you must return it to him by the time the sun goes down, 27 for it is his only covering—it is his garment for his body. What else can he sleep in? And when he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am gracious.
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Notes and References
“... long time his eldest son who was aspiring to succeed him reproached
his father for not having fed the orphan (ytm, masc.; see also KTU
4.618:3) and widow (KTU 1.16:VI.48-50). ...” “... Care for the orphan is also part of the ethics of the Hebrew Bible.
Exod. 22:21 [22] prohibits their affliction: 'You shall not abuse any
widow or orphan'. Deuteronomy shows a special interest in the weak,
i.e., the alien, the orphan and the widow, and stipulates several regu-
lations regarding proper conduct towards them.13 ...”
Marsman, Hennie J.
Women in Ugarit and Israel: Their Social and Religious Position in the Context of the Ancient Near East
(p. PDF 334) Brill, 2003
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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